Page 47 of Ghostly Touches

Chapter15

KWIL

My body is riddled with anxiety.

I glance across the street to the apothecary. The humans use it as a pharmacy, none the wiser that inhumans use it for magical fixes and elixirs. It’s been twenty-seven minutes since Willow went in. Three people have entered, two have exited. Where is she? My knee bounces up and down while my hands turn into fists. When I notice the outward signs of my agitation, I force my body to relax.

Go, the monster in my voice urges.

I swallow. There’s no need for me to go inside. Getting out of the car will only draw unwanted attention to myself and the Brotherhood. I pull my eyes away from the store front and look around the crowded streets of the small town.

Hungry, the monster whispers.

Look at all these people, unaware of the monster in their midst. With the lack of food in my stomach, it’s hard to fight the bloodlust that rides the Tangleling in me. The last real meal we had was that massive breakfast Willow made us. Going back to gruel and freeze-dried meals has been a miserable feat. Now that I’ve recently had a full stomach, I want to be as content all the time. The street is full of people to feed from. None would be the wiser if I stepped out of the car, attacked, and then dragged my meal back in here. I’d be too quick. Their scream would be cut off before they even had a chance to gasp.

I swallow the extra saliva gathering in my mouth.

No, I won’t let my devilish thoughts get the best of me. I’ve ignored my bloodlust for years. This can’t be because of a single excellent meal. This is because Willow’s out of sight. I know it. This is exactly how I felt during the week she was with the Elders and we were back in the Third Realm. The monster in me wants to be heinous. It always has. Around Willow though, the monster is quiet and content. My morality and humanity are no longer at risk. Without her around, it’s harder than ever to not succumb to the beast.

Now I know why.

Our souls are welded together. That’s how Willow described it. What I’ve taken away from our discussion about it is that we’re basically mates. Two souls tied together, destined to find one another and to never separate again. Though rare, true mates aren’t unheard of. And the same stipulations befall them once they’ve found one another: distance pains them, touch is important and constant.

I have a mate now.

My heart flutters in my chest, and my pants tent as my dick hardens. Ghosts aren’t supposed to have mates. We give up the right to eternal bonds outside of the Brotherhood. Our sole focus should be on our job, not on relationships we can never pursue. Though, how our superiors enforce this rule is beyond me. I suppose we’re meant to just walk away if our mate ever crossed our path. I’ve never heard of a Ghost meeting their mate while on duty, but I suppose it could happen.

Like it has now.

Except… this situation is a bit different. Fate normally predestines souls to find one another. Our situation was human created. It’s not real.

No, that voice in my head denies.

I frown. No, what? A picture of Willow walking towards her house the night we met appears in my mind’s eye, and my body begins to vibrate in this strange new pattern. That wasbeforeWillow saved Viktor.

Ours, the monster confirms.

Another image of her flashes across my mind. It’s her beneath me while I take her hard and fast. My vibration grows stronger. I frown as I think about this. If I was feeling less monster and more man before our souls were pieced together… What does that mean?

My knee starts bouncing again as I watch the door of the apothecary. Where is Willow? What’s taking so long? Should I go make sure everything is alright? Is this what it feels like to worry about one’s mate?

I hate it.

I love it.

There’s an excitement humming through me that hadn’t been there before we met Willow. In fact, I felt almost hollow inside. As if my heart had become uninterested in life.

I get angry now. Impatient. Worried. Excited. Happy. Aroused…

Thirty-two minutes have now passed since Willow disappeared inside the store.

I’m about to get out of the car when she steps back outside. A man steps out with her. He’s wearing a white doctor’s coat. This must be the owner of the store. They speak to each other for a moment before Willow flashes him a grin and turns to walk away. Her thick curls whip around and bounce behind her as she moves. The shop owner waves, although it goes unnoticed.

As Willow crosses the street, heads turn. Though she only wears a tee shirt and leggings, she might as well be a model on the runway given the confidence with which she walks, despite the slight limp. Her warm smile as she meets a few gazes is both genuine and lights up her face. I watch as one guy stops walking altogether, turns, and watches her walk towards me. Just before she gets to the car, his partner tugs on his hands to regain his attention.

Willow comes around her little bus and opens the passenger door.

“I got the stuff you wanted,” she says and tosses a white paper bag onto the seat. “Just spray the pages you’re interested in looking at with a fine mist, and it’ll appear for a little while. Don’t oversaturate, or it will destroy the book. Oh, and I found a collar for Jonah. The pharmacist says it’s for shifters who get stuck in their other form. It should help him shift back, cursed or not.”

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